Mark Zuckerman

Game 151 lineups: Nats at Cardinals

September 18, 2019, 7:02am

ST. LOUIS - Funny how much a team's outlook can change in 12 hours. The Nationals had reason to be nervous when they carried a slim, 3-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh Tuesday night at Busch Stadium, the possibility of falling out of the No. 1 wild card slot very much real. But then they finished off the Cardinals 6-2 and saw the Cubs lose to the Reds. Now they report to the ballpark for today's matinee with Max Scherzer on the mound and a chance to take two of three from St. Louis. I...

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On homer and strikeout records, and the goal of 90 wins

September 17, 2019, 10:29pm

Nationals

On homer and strikeout records, and the goal of 90 wins

ST. LOUIS - Some news and notes to cleanse your palette before the Nationals and Cardinals return to action this afternoon for their series finale ... * Howie Kendrick's fourth-inning homer Tuesday night was big because it helped set the tone for an eventual 6-2 victory, but it also was historic. Kendrick's solo blast to center was the Nationals' 215th home run of the season. That ties the franchise record. Which was set only two years ago. But still. Home run records are being set left and...

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Nats take early lead, ride 'pen to much-needed win (updated)

September 17, 2019, 7:06pm

Nationals

Nats take early lead, ride 'pen to much-needed win (updated)

ST. LOUIS - "Late and close" has not been the Nationals' forte in recent weeks. When they've won, they've won by a sizeable margin. When they've been in a tight battle late, they've tended to lose. Evidence of that? They entered tonight's game against the Cardinals having used a reliever in a ninth-inning save situation only once in a calendar month. The situation simply hadn't come up. Chip Hale has been prepared for it to happen. And given how little current closer Daniel Hudson has...

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Suzuki starts hitting, but still not throwing (Nats up 3-1)

September 17, 2019, 4:27pm

Nationals

Suzuki starts hitting, but still not throwing (Nats up 3-1)

ST. LOUIS - Kurt Suzuki took a full round of batting practice early this afternoon at Busch Stadium and also caught AnÃbal SÃ¡nchez's bullpen session, but the Nationals catcher is still days away from being cleared to throw and test his injured right elbow. Suzuki, who hasn't played since feeling a tingling sensation in his elbow after trying to throw out a basestealer Sept. 7 in Atlanta, did take some important steps today in his recovery and was cautiously optimistic about his...

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Martinez out of hospital, not cleared to travel yet

September 17, 2019, 3:01pm

Nationals

Martinez out of hospital, not cleared to travel yet

ST. LOUIS - Davey Martinez has been released from the hospital and has returned to his home in Washington, but doctors have not yet cleared him to travel, so the Nationals manager will miss at least his team's three-game series against the Cardinals. Martinez, who felt chest pain during the sixth inning of Sunday's win over the Braves, was taken to a D.C. hospital, where he underwent a cardiac catheterization Monday. He won't need any more procedures, according to general manager Mike Rizzo,...

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Game 150 lineups: Nats at Cardinals

September 17, 2019, 12:14pm

Nationals

ST. LOUIS - There's going to be a lot of scoreboard watching tonight - and pretty much every night over the next 12 days - as four teams (the Nationals, Cardinals, Cubs and Brewers) go down to the wire to secure the three remaining postseason berths available in the National League. There's one thing the Nationals can do, however, to make life easier on everyone: Win tonight's game. Every day the Nats win a game from here on out is a day they get closer to locking up a wild card berth....

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How the Nationals turned a comfortable lead into a tight race

September 16, 2019, 10:52pm

Nationals

ST. LOUIS - For more than two months now, the Nationals have not only been in wild card position but (aside from a couple of days) have been in the driver's seat to host the Oct. 1 winner-take-all game. As recently as two weeks ago, they held a four-game lead over the Cubs for home field advantage and a seven-game lead for a spot in the wild card game. And by the end of play tonight, they could have given all of it back. The combination of a sluggish September (6-9) for the Nationals with a...

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Nats' lead in wild card shrinks again after 4-2 loss (updated)

September 16, 2019, 6:49pm

Nationals

Nats' lead in wild card shrinks again after 4-2 loss (updated)

ST. LOUIS - Chip Hale insisted he would manage this game just like Davey Martinez, believing that he wanted to keep things as similar as possible tonight, even as the Nationals skipper watched from back home in Washington while recovering from a minor procedure after experiencing chest pain. Beyond that, Hale just believes he and Martinez are on the same wavelength when it comes to managing this team through a tight ballgame. The key decisions Hale made tonight - pulling Stephen Strasburg after...

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Strasburg laboring against patient Cards lineup (game tied 2-2)

September 16, 2019, 5:12pm

Nationals

Strasburg laboring against patient Cards lineup (game tied 2-2)

ST. LOUIS - On a muggy Monday night at Busch Stadium, the last thing the Nationals needed was a short outing from Stephen Strasburg. Alas, that's exactly what they appear to be getting. Though he has allowed only two runs so far, Strasburg has thrown a whopping 76 pitches through three innings against a Cardinals lineup that is making the Nats right-hander work as hard as he has all season. Strasburg needed 38 pitches just to complete the bottom of the first, with four of St. Louis' first six...

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Martinez has procedure after chest pain, stays in D.C.

September 16, 2019, 2:39pm

Nationals

Martinez has procedure after chest pain, stays in D.C.

ST. LOUIS - Davey Martinez experienced chest pain during Sunday's game and underwent a minor procedure this morning in Washington that will prevent him from managing tonight's game and perhaps more until doctors clear him to return to work, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo revealed late this afternoon. Bench coach Chip Hale, who finished out Sunday's 7-0 win over the Braves after Martinez fell ill during the sixth inning, will manage in his stead. First base coach Tim Bogar will shift to...

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Game 149 lineups: Nats at Cardinals (Martinez stays in D.C.)

September 16, 2019, 12:09pm

Nationals

Game 149 lineups: Nats at Cardinals (Martinez stays in D.C.)

ST. LOUIS - The Nationals have just announced that Davey Martinez remains in Washington for precautionary medical testing. Bench coach Chip Hale revealed after Sunday's game that the manager had gone to the hospital because he wasn't feeling well, but that he was expected to be with the team in St. Louis for tonight's series opener. Instead, Hale will manage the club in Martinez's absence tonight. The Nationals face another stiff challenge in the Central-leading Cardinals, who suffered a...

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Unable to play every day, Kendrick making most of chances

September 15, 2019, 7:36pm

Nationals

Unable to play every day, Kendrick making most of chances

Howie Kendrick is the best hitter on the Nationals roster not named Anthony Rendon. And he's not too far removed from the National League MVP candidate. After a three-hit, three-RBI performance during Sunday's 7-0 win over the Braves, Kendrick owns a .336 batting average and .945 OPS. He has 15 homers and 60 RBIs. All this while receiving only 337 plate appearances, only slightly more than half as many as Rendon has logged. So why isn't Kendrick playing more? It's been a common refrain from...

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Nats shut out Braves, Martinez hospitalized (updated)

September 15, 2019, 12:42pm

Nationals

Nats shut out Braves, Martinez hospitalized (updated)

The Nationals needed to win today, plain and simple. It did not matter who they were playing. It did not matter who was on the mound for either team. It did not matter how they felt physically or emotionally as they navigate their way through a particularly grueling final portion of their schedule. It didn't even matter who was managing from the dugout. After dropping the first two games of this series and after dropping 8-of-12 overall to see their once-comfortable lead in the wild card race...

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Culberson cleared to fly home, Martinez explains request

September 15, 2019, 9:12am

Nationals

Culberson cleared to fly home, Martinez explains request

Charlie Culberson suffered multiple facial fractures when he was hit in the right cheek trying to bunt a fastball from Nationals reliever Fernando Rodney during Saturday's game, but the Braves utilityman was released from the hospital later in the evening, spent the night at the team's hotel and has been cleared to fly home to Atlanta today. All things considered, that was positive news from everyone's perspective today at Nationals Park, where the two clubs are preparing to play their...

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Voth shines again vs. Braves, could earn bullpen role in October

September 14, 2019, 9:19pm

Nationals

Voth shines again vs. Braves, could earn bullpen role in October

Before the bullpen implosion, before the scary sight of Charlie Culberson getting hit in the face by a fastball, before the Nationals saw their lead in the wild card race shrink again, there was far and away the most encouraging element of Saturday's loss: Austin Voth. The game can cleanly been broken into two parts: Voth's start, and everything that came after it. When the young right-hander departed, the Nats led the Braves 1-0. From that point on, Atlanta scored 10 unanswered runs. "He's...

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Meltdown vs. Braves shrinks Nats' wild card lead (updated)

September 14, 2019, 3:34pm

Nationals

Meltdown vs. Braves shrinks Nats' wild card lead (updated)

Forget about a division title. That's been out of reach for more than a week now. Forget even for a moment about home field advantage in the wild card game, which is still in their possession but feels less important right now than the Nationals' first and foremost goal over the regular season's final two weeks. No, at this point in time the Nationals need to be worried most about reaching the wild card game at all, because while they remain in an advantageous position to achieve that...

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Suzuki starts swinging, but still slow to progress

September 14, 2019, 11:13am

Nationals

Suzuki starts swinging, but still slow to progress

Kurt Suzuki took a small step forward in his return from a right elbow injury, but the veteran catcher still has a significant way to go before he's back in the Nationals lineup. Suzuki took some swings in the batting cage Friday, his first baseball activities since he had to depart a game Sept. 7 in Atlanta with what the club so far has only referred to as elbow inflammation. The 35-year-old catcher has not been cleared to hit live pitching or throw a baseball yet, and it could still be a...

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Game 147 lineups: Nats vs. Braves

September 14, 2019, 8:25am

Nationals

Though their hopes of a fifth division title in eight years have all but been quashed, the Nationals still need to win as many games as they can as they attempt to lock up at least a wild card berth and preferably home field advantage for that winner-take-all game. Which means they need to win some games against the Braves. That's not something they've done much during the second half of this season. They're 4-8 versus Atlanta since the All-Star break, 7-10 overall for the season, with two...

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Cabrera keeps hitting, keeps getting starts

September 12, 2019, 9:37pm

Nationals

Cabrera keeps hitting, keeps getting starts

MINNEAPOLIS - The Nationals signed AsdrÃºbal Cabrera to a league minimum deal on Aug. 6 because they needed some short-term help on the right side of the infield. Ryan Zimmerman and Howie Kendrick were both hurt, so the presence of a veteran switch-hitter who could come off the bench and make a start or two at second base and first base was needed. One month later, Cabrera has turned into a vital part of the Nationals' daily lineup, one of the hottest hitters in the league and suddenly their...

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Bats come up big as Nats maintain wild card lead (updated)

September 12, 2019, 8:15pm

Nationals

Bats come up big as Nats maintain wild card lead (updated)

MINNEAPOLIS - A night getaway game combined with a rain delay might have left the Nationals tired and dreading an overnight flight home in advance of tomorrow's series opener with the Braves. But if nothing else, it gave the Nats a rare opportunity to know exactly what was needed of them on this night, because every other contender for a berth in the National League wild card game had already finished playing. And because the Cubs, Brewers, Mets and Phillies all won, the Nationals knew they...